The Leader

Jannifer Hong
English
10/12/12
The LeaderEach Dalai Lama is known as the reincarnation of the previous one. The 14th Dalai Lama was born as Lhamo Dhondup on July 6th, 1935 and later changed his name to Tenzin Gyatso. At the age of fifteen, Tenzin was given full political power as the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet. Before that year, the People’s Republic of China had invaded Tibet. The conflict later on caused the Dalai Lama and others to flee to northern India, out of fear that the Dalai Lama would be assassinated. Since then, the Dalai Lama has taken many actions in hopes of establishing tranquility with the People’s Republic of China once again. Soon after the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, had passed away, a search party was quickly sent out to find the new incarnation of the Dalai Lama. At the young age of two, Tenzin Gyatso was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. He began his studies as a Buddhist monk at the age of six with five major subjects and five minor subjects. The major subjects were logic, Tibetan art and culture, Sanskrit, medicine, and Buddhist philosophy and the minor subjects were poetry, music and drama, astrology, motre and phasing, and synonyms. In 1950, the Dalai Lama received full political power after China’s invasion in Tibet the previous year. In 1954, he traveled to Beijing to meet with Mao Zedong and other leaders. He then also traveled to India. Ever since the Chinese invasion, the Dalai Lama tried many different approaches in effort to make peace with the People’s Republic of China. In all of his approaches, he remain nonviolent. After he was exiled, he began drafting a constitution for Tibet in 1963. It even provided guidelines for Tibetans living in exile. He also proposed the Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet. The Dalai Lama, being the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, spent a majority of his life benefiting humanity. He wrote books, conducted...